LAHORE: A new mechanism introduced at the Government College University (GCU) to extend contracts of employees through a ‘selection board’ has raised suspicion about bias.

According to one view, the move is allegedly aimed at blocking the way of a professor who, in his role as inquiry officer, had pointed out dubious payments amounting to $7m (Rs638m) to ‘ghost’ foreign faculty members in the Abdus Salam School of Mathematical Sciences (ASSMS) of the university.

A recently held meeting of the board of governors of the school did not extend the contract of Prof Dr Amer Iqbal.

Mr Iqbal was one of the members of an internal inquiry committee that had pointed out the dubious payments made to ‘ghost’ foreign faculty from 2003 to 2013 and called for a detailed probe by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

ASSMS Director General Prof G Murtaza had formed a three-member committee to verify the payments made to foreign faculty. The committee members included Prof Amer Iqbal, visiting Prof Fiazuddin Zaman and administrative and finance officer Muhammad Imran Khan.

The GCU ASSMS, under the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Foreign Faculty Hiring Programme (FFHP), had hired 58 foreign faculty members for teaching, research and supervision of students from 2003 to 2013 with duration ranging from a few months up to eight years in some cases. The faculty members were paid monthly salaries which were deposited with their accounts opened with the help of the school with a local bank.

During 2003-2013, the officials of the ASSMS, directly responsible for the disbursement of funds received from the HEC under the FFHP, included Dr Allah Ditta Raza Chaudhry, the ASSMS director general from 2003-2014, and Ejaz Malik, the finance and administration director from 2003-2014. Mr Iqbal was not given contract.

However, GCU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Asghar Zaidi refuted the allegation of victimising anyone and told Dawn that extension of the contract or appointment of any employee would be made through the selection board. He said they would soon advertise the post in the media and anyone could apply for it.

Mr Zaidi said NAB was investigating the case of ghost faculty and the university administration was cooperating with the anti-corruption watchdog.

“We have provided all the required documents to the investigators of the bureau, including internal inquiry report and the International Kangaroo Mathematics Contest (IKMC) report,” he said.

The VC added that a three-member committee, led by a former high court judge, was also constituted to audit the internal report about corruption in the ASSMS foreign faculty hiring programme. He said the selection board would give a three-year contract or make regular appointment for the posts vacant in the university.

Sources in the board of governors meeting told Dawn that Mr Iqbal’s employment contract was not extended because the members had raised questions about his performance in the school. They said that no student had completed his MPhil and PhD under the supervision of Mr Iqbal and only one research paper was published during his service.

They said Mr Iqbal was getting around Rs500,000 per month from the university and was spending most of his time abroad.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2020